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And is there enough Premier League experience in the goalkeeping department?

Newcastle have made some positive signings in this window but overall they lack top flight quality.

Grade: D

Sean McCormick:

When Mike Ashley promised Rafa Benitez back in May he could have ‘every last penny available’ to spend this summer, it promised to be a positive window.

Riding the crest of a wave of optimism following promotion, Newcastle could have had a real go in the transfer market and build toward something special with Benitez at the helm.

What has followed has been nothing short of shambolic, and Benitez ends the window feeling let down by Newcastle, and badly short in some key positions.

Benitez’s frustrations about missing out on his primary targets have been well documented, but even heading into the final week of the window, there was a thought that the window could be somewhat salvaged by the additions of a new keeper, left-back and a forward.

In order to do that, we were told United had to sell players to fund moves. Emmanuel Riviere, Siem de Jong, Grant Hanley, Tim Krul and Achraf Lazaar have all set off for pastures new, yet the Magpies have not spent a single penny of the money generated.

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After not receiving funds in the January transfer window, it defied logic to not fully back the Spaniard this summer.

Yet logic isn’t something that has been synonymous with the Ashley era’s handling of transfers, and United end the window with a net spend of £11 million despite making a profit last summer and not spending anything in January. Go figure.

Six signings did arrive and the positives to glean from the window are that Mikel Merino has looked impressive, United are well stocked in terms of wingers and the signs are that they have nabbed a bargain with the £8.5m purchase of Florian Lejeune.

But United are woefully short of Premier League quality in other departments and choosing not to strengthen those positions in the final week of the window could come back to bite them.

New questions will be raised about Benitez’s future. He won’t leave imminently but should another club come calling, what’s stopping him from jumping ship? If he hasn’t been backed to carry out his project in the last two windows, why would it change in the future? Hardly reason to stay, is it?

Stuart Jamieson:

While the window has not gone the way Rafa Benitez would have liked, I feel the current squad is stronger than the one which was promoted in May.

However, the strongest first XI is largely the same as the one which won their place back in the Premier League, with the exception of Florian Lejeune.

Jacob Murphy and Mikel Merino are two good signings with bags of potential, Joselu adds competition up front, but there has been no marquee signing which the club needed.

The club spent too long courting goalkeepers - a position they didn’t need to focus on - while the ludicrous prices currently being bandied about have ruled United out of any big-name move.

It took too long to offload players surplus to requirements, which meant Benitez’s hands were tied in the final few weeks.

Grade: C-

Andrew Musgrove:

It’s not been overly brilliant and there is quite rightly a sense that fans and Rafa Benitez have been let down by Mike Ashley. For whatever reason, wires were crossed during the meeting between Benitez and Ashley at the end of last season and that perhaps led to false hope from everyone.

The reality is, United have simply not done enough to make this a comfortable season. They lack an authoritative goalkeeper, a real goalscorer, creative cover and some really quality.

Mikel Merino looks a good addition as does Florian Lejeune, but more was needed - much more. I also can’t understand why it was decided that Dwight Gayle was for sale 48 hours before the window shut. With United’s history, that was never enough time to get in a replacement and potentially just sours the relationship between Rafa and his number 9.

17 teams have the TV money from last season to spend and that must be taken into account but Ashley should have looked at this summer and seen just what an impact relegation had on United’s ability to compete in the transfer market. Instead, he’s gambled that the squad is good enough and in reality it’s not.

Benitez constantly made reference to how United most learn from their mistakes, not just at the start of this summer but over the last few seasons. Unfortunately, his warning has gone unheeded.

Grade: E

Mark Douglas:

In terms of additions, Florian Lejeune looks like promising and Mikel Merino has potential. But it’s a long, hard season ahead and judgement has to be reserved until we see where the two newcomers to English football are by the time we get to Christmas – when Newcastle will surely be primed to recruit again.

Joselu had a promising debut but his CV suggests we’ll be seeing more of Dwight Gayle, who has been underwhelming so far this season. Aleksandar Mitrovic’s three-match ban is looking more of a blow after United failed to secure a deal for him.

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Deals for Christian Atsu and Jacob Murphy may prove good in the longer term, while judgement will be similarly reserved on Javier Manquillo.

The failure of the window was the way Newcastle did business: ponderously, with little intent and paying virtually no attention to what their manager wanted. It was a failure of the hierarchy: compounded by Mike Ashley’s risible Sky interview. In fact, Newcastle recruited better when Steve McClaren and Alan Pardew were manager than they did this year. It was as if we’d gone back three years, despite Premier League clubs have moved on light years since United were last in the top flight.

I think Newcastle still have enough – if the manager stays – to be competitive against most sides. But the prospect of a tough season looms large.

Given how uplifted the city, club and manager felt after winning the title, this has been a horrendous summer.

Grade: F

Mikel Merino of Newcastle United (Image: Newcastle United)

Chris Waugh:

This transfer window has been barely passable for Newcastle United in my opinion.

They just about scrape a pass, simply on the basis some of the players they had signed look like decent acquisitions and they did eventually offload the majority of the dead wood late on, but the reality is their incoming business has been far from satisfactory. Florian Lejeune and Mikel Merino look like they could turn into bargains, Joselu and Javier Manquillo are players Rafa Benitez firmly believes he can develop further, while Jacob Murphy is an exciting acquisition - but very much one for the future.

Given that Christian Atsu was already on Tyneside last summer, that one barely qualifies as a new signing; it certainly doesn’t represent an upgrade, anyway. What’s more, not only has Benitez been forced to downgrade the quality of player he hoped to attract to St James’ Park over the course of the summer, he was not able to strengthen every position he needed to.

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The Magpies are a goalkeeper, left-back, attacking-midfielder and striker short - while Benitez also has two strikers (Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic) and a goalkeeper (Karl Darlow) who he would quite happily have allowed to depart still on his books.

Six signings may sound a lot on paper, but given that Benitez wanted to overhaul a squad he constructed for the Championship and turn them into a team capable of competing in the Premier League, Newcastle have simply fallen way too short of doing that. Benitez will surely be livid - and with good reason.